by Rhian Hibner
Daily Lobo
It's hard to imagine what a more perfect first-person shooter would be like.
2K Boston's "BioShock," spiritual successor to 1999's "System Shock 2," has set the bar so high, it seems unlikely that anyone will surpass it anytime soon.
Anyone trying to claim the crown at this point would have to surpass "BioShock" on a trifecta of perfect gameplay, presentation and atmosphere.
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What makes "BioShock" such a great shooter is the ironic inclusion of elements that are decidedly un-shooter-like.
In many ways, it is a role-playing game as much as it is anything else.
From the beginning, the player starts collecting what are known as plasmids. The plasmids are gene-therapy treatments that allow the player to use a variety of special powers.
At the beginning of the game, the player has access to only two plasmids at a time, but upgrades to the player's abilities can be bought at kiosks scattered throughout the game. These powers, along with a series of highly upgradeable weapons, are the tools the player must master to survive the attacks of the splicers - the genetically self-mutilated denizens of Rapture.
So, what is Rapture anyway? It's definitely not a biblical reference. It is almost the opposite, in fact.
Rapture is the city in which the game takes place, and its advanced urban decay is the source of much of the distinctly creepy atmosphere of "BioShock." The sense of fear and confinement that the game contains is enhanced by the fact that all of Rapture lies underwater, with the exception of a single spire that protrudes above the mid-Atlantic waves.
The city is a scathing commentary on Ayn Rand's objectivist theories and was designed to be a utopia of free will and industrialism. However, by the time the player arrives there, it has descended into chaos with half its citizens twisted into a grotesque mockery of the human form and the rest dead.
Along with the normal citizens, there are Little Sisters - young girls who wander the halls, extracting genetic material from the dead. All this adds up to create an atmosphere which leaves the player jumping at every sound and twitching whenever something moves.
The incredible graphics and audio in the game are particularly impressive - especially the game engine's water effects.
The water in the game looks real. The player's view distorts and ripples while running under a stream of water, much as it would in the real world.
In addition, the faces of the various characters are capable of expressing realistic emotions. One can almost feel the air crackle with power when the plasmid abilities are being used, due solely to their visual presentation. And nothing could possibly be more creepy than hearing a splicer sing "Jesus loves me, this I know," while busying himself with looting a nearby corpse.
Overall, "BioShock" makes the transition from video game to art. It is the 21st century's "Mona Lisa" in a nearly perfect interactive presentation.
The game's only flaw is that it is too short. It takes about 12 hours to finish the game and leaves the player begging for more.
